1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus and method to be used to automatically segregate a mixture of articles, particularly a mixture of molded articles and associated flash, wherein the molded articles and flash are separate sets of elements, but remain commingled.
In manufacturing molded articles such as rubber parts, a portion of the charge often overflows from the mold cavity at the parting line of the mold. This overflow, or flash, generally remains a part of the molded product after the molding operation has been completed. A variety of means are available to cleave the flash from the article. In one means, the molded articles are chilled and the flash then mechanically broken away through tumbling or the like. However, once this deflashing operation has been completed, the parts and flash remain commingled, and must be separated.
2. Summary of the Invention
The present invention is directed to solving the problem of parting and collecting molded articles and flash after the article and flash have previously been cleaved. This invention takes advantage of the differences in geometry and mass of the molded articles and flash.
A mixture of molded articles and flash is held in a container having a conveyor track. The mixture moves along the track past a primary nozzle which blows the mixture into a single layer. Upstream, the mixture moves past a blow-off nozzle which blows either the article or the flash off the track and out of the bowl.
The invention may be used for a variety of molded articles, and is adapatable to rubber, plastic, and metal articles. It offers a fast and efficient means for sorting molded articles and flash, and it achieves nearly a complete sorting of the molded articles and flash.